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Help! My garage door is frozen shut!

Winter has its own unique problems that can occasionally cause our garage door systems to malfunction. GARAGA garage doors are crafted from the highest quality, most resistant materials, but even these systems are not immune to the effects of extreme temperatures.

The metal components of garage door systems tend to contract when very cold which overtaxes the opener especially if your garage isn’t insulated. Your electric door opener is under even more stress if it is confronted with a garage door stuck in the ice.

Another contributing factor to a door frozen shut is a high level of humidity in the garage. To reduce humidity in this space, read the advice in this article.

NEED HELP?

If your garage door needs some preventive maintenance or a quick repair, get in touch with us. If you have to change your garage door, we can also provide you with a free, written quotation.

How to prevent this situation

Open and close your garage door at least once a day. This helps keeps the door from sticking to the threshold as well as ice from forming between any metal components.

Shovel or sweep away any snow that builds up in front of your garage door. Do this as soon as there is any precipitation so that snow doesn’t accumulate or ice form.

Make sure winter has no unpleasant surprises in store for you by having regular maintenance performed on your garage door throughout the year.

Apply a silicon-based lubricant to the weatherseal at the bottom of your door to stop it from sticking to the cold ground.

And what if my door is stuck in ice?

Most definitely DO NOT use your electric garage door opener to operate your door if it is stuck in ice. This can seriously damage the motor and require the replacement of several parts of the door opener. Here is what you should do:

Disengage the opener from the garage door by pulling down on the red emergency release cord.

If applicable, remember to unlock the side lock attached to the inside of the door.

Also, where necessary, deactivate the lock button found on the wall control panel located near the access door to your house.

Take a look around the interior of your garage and inspect your garage door system to assure yourself that no metal components are broken or frozen together.

Carefully try to open your garage door by hand to check if you can free it from the ice.

How to get rid of the ice

If the door is really stuck in the ice, use a hammer along with a piece of 2X4 to gently tap the bottom of the door to loosen it from the ice. Once free, lift the door so that it stays open by itself at about 4 feet (1.2 m) from the ground.

Use a scraper to remove any patches or lumps of ice remaining on the threshold of the door.

If needed, use a hairdryer to help melt the ice faster. Be careful not to hold the dryer in the same place for an extended period. Another possibility is to slowly pour hot or boiling water on the ice. Once the ice has melted, quickly dry the threshold with a clean rag.

To view all our Garaga door models, simply use our Design Centre. This way you can create your next dream garage door!